Standard facsimile devices which operate only as facsimile machines connected directly to a telephone line are rapidly being replaced by devices which combined facsimile and/or digital scanning, copying and printing in one single unit. Note, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,947,345 to Paradise; U.S. Pat. No. 3,597,071 to Jones; U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,218 to Matsumoto; U.S. Pat. No. 5,021,892 to Kita, et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,623,244 to Andrews, et al. Such devices can take advantage of network connections so that they can be effectively used by a wide group of users as a department printer or facsimile machine. Even in such an environment however, a single multifunction machine will continue to have only a single or, at most, a limited number of external telephone ports.
When a multifunction machine is utilized by a significant number of users, the probability of more than one individual directing a job (some work process utilizing copying, printing, scanning or transmitting capability of the device) to the machine is greatly increased, requiring a method of handling the queue of multiple jobs that is formed. There are many ways to prioritize queues, based on time of receipt, job-type, available resources, user codes, etc. U.S. Pat. No. 4,947,345 to Paradise, et al. shows one prioritization scheme, which assumes that facsimile messages are usually very important and should receive high priority in the job queues requiring utilizing the printer.
Generally speaking, transmission of documents across networks utilized by remote terminals are known, for example, as shown by examples of recent patents relating to network environments of plural remote terminals shared by users, including but not limited to Xerox Corporation U.S. Pat. No. 5,243,518; U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,112; U.S. Pat. No. 5,170,340 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,287,194. Some patents on this subject by others include U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,355, U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,494 (originally filed Feb. 27, 1987), U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,162, U.S. Pat. No. 5,220,674, U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,670; U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,080 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,107. Further, by way of background, some of the following Xerox Corporation patents also include examples of networked systems with printers: U.S. Pat. No. 5,153,577; U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,517; U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,072,412; 5,065,347; 5,008,853; 4,947,345; 4,939,507; U.S. Pat. No. 4,937,036; U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,481; U.S. Pat. No. 4,914,586; U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,136; U.S. Pat. No. 4,063,220; U.S. Pat. No. 4,099,024; U.S. Pat. No. 3,958,088; U.S. Pat. No. 3,920,895; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,597,071. Also noted are IBM Corp. U.S. Pat. No. 4,651,278 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,623,244 (both assigned to IBM), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,760,458 and Japanese Pub. No. 59-63872 published Nov. 4, 1984 (both assigned to Canon). Some of these various above patents also disclose multi-functional or integral machines [digital scanner/facsimile/printer/copiers] and their controls.
Some other network systems related publications include "Xerox System Integration Standard Printing Protocol XSIS 118404", April 1984; "Xerox Integrated Production Publishers Solutions: . . . " Booklet No. "610P50807" "11/85"; "Printing Protocol-Xerox System Integration Standard" .COPYRGT.1990 by Xerox Corporation, XNSS 119005 May 1990; "Xerox Network Systems Architecture", "General Information Manual", XNSG 068504 April 1985, with an extensive annotated bibliography, .COPYRGT.1985 by Xerox Corporation; "Interpress.TM.: The Source Book", Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, N.Y., 1988, by Harrington, S. J. and Buckley, R. R.; Adobe Systems Incorporated "PostScript.RTM. Language Reference Manual", Addison-Wesley Co., 1990; "Mastering Novell" Netware.RTM., 1990, SYBEX, Inc., Alameda, Calif., by Cheryl E. Currid and Craig A. Gillett; "Palladium Print System" .COPYRGT.MIT 1984, et sec; "Athena85" "Computing in Higher Education: The Athena Experience", E. Balkovich, et al, Communications of the ACM, 28(11) pp. 1214-1224, November, 1985; and "Apollo87" "The Network Computing Architecture and System: An Environment for Developing Distributed Applications", T. H. Dineen, et al, Usenix Conference Proceedings, June 1987.
Noted among commercial network systems with printers and software therefor is the 1992 Xerox Corporation "Network Publisher" version of the 1990 "DocuTech.RTM." publishing system, including the "Network Server" to customer's Novell.RTM. 3.11 networks, supporting various different network protocols and "Ethernet.TM."; and the Interpress Electronic Printing Standard, Version 3.0, Xerox System Integration Standard XNSS 048601 (January 1986). Also, the much earlier Xerox Corporation "9700 Electronic printing System"; the "VP Local Laser Printing" software application package, which, together with the Xerox "4045" or other Laser Copier/Printer, the "6085" "Professional Computer System" using Xerox Corporation "ViewPoint" or "GlobalView.RTM." software and a "local printer [print service] Option" kit, comprises the "Documenter" system. The even earlier Xerox Corporation "8000" "Xerox Network Services Product Descriptions" further describe other earlier Xerox Corporation electronic document printing systems. Eastman Kodak "LionHeart.TM." systems, first announced Sep. 13, 1990, are also noted. Current popular commercial published "systems software" including LAN workstation connections includes Novell.RTM. DOS 7.0, "Windows.TM." NT 3.1, and IBM OS/2 Version 2.1. Also noted in the Xerox 7033 LAN FAX server, a facsimile machine with a network connection serving multiple workstations on a LAN network.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,287,194 to Lobiando suggests the desirability of allocating printing jobs to printers on a network based on a function related to job length and queue length. The arrangement assumes that the user has access to the locations at which the printing will occur. Also noted is U.S. Pat. No. 5,128,878 to Gore et al, detailing a scheduling system which utilizes multiple plotters in a network.
As facsimile jobs become longer and more numerous due to the increased reliability and availability of facsimile devices, the facsimile transmission function of a multifunction machine or facsimile machine is "busy" for longer periods of time. Depending on usage, queues of facsimile jobs will be created, causing delays in the transmission of any particular job as it works its way through the queue, even though users will believe that the job was sent. However, U.S. Pat. No. 4,947,345 to Paradise, et al. does not address the problem of long waits to send facsimile jobs, even assuming that facsimile jobs are given high priority.
Common practice provides that a user seeking to send a document to a remote location facsimile must positively select which facsimile machine to use to send the document. However, a user really has little interest in which machine actually transmits the document.
References disclosed herein are incorporated by reference for their teachings.